1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates to a shoe, more particularly to a shoe incorporating a leg support member disposed within an upper to surround and support the leg and/or ankle of a wearer.
2. Description of the Related Art
It is known in the art to provide a sandal with an ankle strap in addition to toe straps in order to enhance retention of the sandal on the foot of a wearer and to improve the comfort and support provided by the sandal.
It is also known that shoes are provided with ankle supports in order to prevent the ankle of wearers from undesirable twisting movement which can injure the wearers' ankle. An example of such shoes is disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 5,175,947 in which a removable ankle support 1 is attached to an outer side of an upper as shown in FIG. 1. The ankle support 1 has two sheet springs respectively attached to two sides of the upper and can be tightened around the upper at a position corresponding to the wearer's ankle. The ankle support 1 disclosed in this patent is provided outside the upper.
While various ankle supports have existed in the art, further development is still needed for improvements in foot, leg and/or ankle support systems incorporated into shoes.